Advertising sign holder



Patented Mar. 2, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 14 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in advertising sign holders and has particular reference to holders of the-general character disclosed in my co-pending application Serial No.

699,582, led November 24, 1933. Such holder consists of a disc-like canvas face member having, at its front face, a narrow annular band arranged over the marginal edge, and at its rear face, a tire-engaging member extending annularly` inward from its periphery and terminating in a central opening. The annular band functions to overlap and hold the marginal edge of a` removable display card placed over the face member while the tire-engaging member operates as ameansA of securing rthe holder to a tire, the central opening or outer edge of the tire-engaging member being of a resilient character to permit its expansion over the periphery of the tire.

Holders of this general character are largely used on the spare tires of taxicabs to carry advertising display cards which are changed from time to time. Since the tire sizes of the various cabs diier and, since the average holder cannot 25 be interchangeably used on tires of different size, it has been necessary not only to provide a different size of holder for each different size of tire, but' also to provide adifferent size of display card for each different size of holder. Fur- 30 thermore, when the tire-engaging band is placed over the tire, it exerts, through its connection to the periphery of the face member, a tension on the marginal edge portion of such member, causing it to bend somewhat over the tire. As a result, the display card is crinkled, reducing the effectiveness of its appearance, while its edges are pinched between the annular band and the face member, making its insertion and removal difficult.

The principal object of the present invention is to avoid the foregoing limitations and objections, and more particularly, to provide a single size of holder which is adapted for easy, quick and firm securement interchangeably to any of a wide range of differently sized tires without distorting or bending either the face member of the display card, and without renderingV difficult the removal and replacement of the card. By making the holder of one size, thedisplay cards will likewise be of one size; hence, they can be used interchangeably regardless of varying tire sizes. Also, by making the holder of a size corresponding to the largest sizeof tire, the maln'mum ad- 55 vertisingspace can be obtained, thus promoting maximum flexibility matter. I

Another object is to provide a novel form of tire-engaging band which makes possible the securement of one size of holder interchangeably to tires of various sizes.

As will be hereinafter pointed out, the holders are preferably made with an outside diameter not substantially less than the outside diameter of the largest tire with which they are to be used. When a large holder of this character is used with smaller tires, it often happens that the rear bumper bar, of the vehicle on which it is used, will `extend approximately midway across the advertising face of the holder thereof. Accordingly, another object of the present invention is to avoid this objection by the provision of a holder having an advertising facewhich is off-set upwardly so as to raise its position relatively to the bumper bar and thus reduce, to a minimum, the obscuring effect of the bar.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein:-

Figure l is a perspective view of the front of a holder constructed in accordance with my invention, this view being partly broken;

Figure 2 is a rear elevation;

Figure 3 is a vertical section of the holder applied to a tire;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary view of the tire-engaging member showing the folds therein; and

Figure 5 is a similar view with the folds pressed out.

In the construction illustrated, a face member l, preferably composed of a fabric such as canvas, is held or supported, in the form of a disc, by a stiiening member 2, preferably in the form of a metal ring enclosed within the outer marginal edge of the face member. Suitable means is provided for holding a removable display card over the face member, such means, in the embodiment shown, being in the form of a narrow annular flat band 3 which is arranged over the marginal face portion of the member I. This band is radially stretched between and held flat by inner and outer ring-like stiifening members 4 and 5 respectively, but it may, instead, be composed of a solid material having the requisite stiffness. The band may be secured to the face member in any suitable manner. As shown, the lower section is stitched, adjacent its outer edge, to the member I, while its upper section is detachably secured, through suitable fasteners 6, to the face member. The upper sections of both theface `member and the band, cooperate, when in advertising subject unsecured, to provide an opening through which a removable display card may be passed. The display card, when properly positioned, extends annularly into the marginal space between the band and face member.

A holder of this character is, of course, provided with a tire-engaging member 1 by which it may be secured to a tire. In previous holders, the tire-engaging member has been secured to the periphery of the face member and, through that securement, exerts a tension on the face member when placed on the tire with the deleterious effects previously noted. I have found that these effects can be entirely eliminated, and the face member maintained in its normal plane, by securing the tire-engaging member along a periphery of smaller diameter than the periphery of the face member and spaced inwardly therefrom. The tire-engaging member may be secured directly to the rear of face member I, but is preferably secured to a ring 8 which is connected by annular web 9 to the periphery of the member I. In this way, the pull exerted by the tireengaging member, has little or no effect on the periphery of the face member; consequently, it will remain in its proper position and thus hold the display card properly.

On some vehicles, the bumper bar is so positioned that it obscures the view of the lower half of the spare tire or of any holder thereon. Inasmuch as the outside diameter of the face of this holder is larger than the diameter of the ring 8, this obscuring effect may readily be reduced to a minimum by upwardly olf-setting the face member relatively to the tire-engaging member. In other Words, the tire-engaging member ring 8 is off-set downwardly from the center of the holder so that its bottom rim section is brought closer to the bottom rim section of the holder while its upper rim section is correspondingly removed further from the upper rim section of the holder.

The outside diameter of the face member preferably is made not substantially less than the outside diameter of the largest tire upon which it is to be used. The tire-engaging member ring 8 is made smaller and preferably of a size approximating that of the smallest tire with which the holder is to be used. Now, in order to adapt the holder for securement to any tire, large or small, the tire-engaging member 1 is made of a length approximating that of the periphery of the face member, and its excess material, when secured to the smaller ring 8, is folded over adjacent the ring at suitable intervals. These folds I0 do not extend to the inner or unsecured edge of the tireengaging member, but such edge is made to enclose a resilient retaining member Il, and the excess material is simply gathered over such resilient retaining member. With this arrangement, when the tire-engaging member is expanded over a small tire, the folds in it do not necessarily open, but as the tire-engaging member is placed over the larger sizes of tires, the folds are opened correspondingly. As a result, this arrangement enables the holder to be applied easily and quickly to any size of tire and, when so applied, operates to hold it rmly. It will be readily appreciated that this invention is also applicable to spare tire covers of a character not intended to carry removable display cards.

Having described my invention, I claim:-

1. An advertising sign holder for use in connection with an annular support in the form` of a spare tire or the like comprising a face member arranged for support over the exposed face of a spare tire, means for holding a removable sign over said member, a tire-engaging member, and means connecting said tire-engaging member to said face member, said connecting means engaging the tire-engaging member at points along a periphery smaller than the periphery of the face member.

2. An advertising sign holder for use in connection with an annular support in the form of a spare tire or the like, comprising a face member arranged for support over the exposed face of a spare tire, means for holding a removable sign over said member, a tire-engaging member having on one side an opening which may be expanded over a tire and on its other side a peripheral section of smaller diameter than the periphery of the face member, and means connecting said peripheral section to said face member.

3. An advertising sign holder for use in connection with an annular support in the form of a spare tire or the like, comprising a face member arranged for support over the exposed face of a spare tire, means for holding a removable sign over said member, a web extending from the periphery of said face member inwardly along its rear face, and a tire-engaging member secured to said web.

4. An advertising sign holder for use in connection with an annular support in the form of a spare tire or the like, comprising a face member arranged for support over the exposed face of a spare tire, means for holding a removable sign over said member, a ring member of smaller diameter than the periphery of the face member, a web connecting said ring member to said face member, and a tire-engaging member secured to said ring member.

5. An advertising sign holder for use in connection with an annular support in the form of a spare tire or the like, comprising a face member arranged for support over the exposed face of a spare tire, means for holding a removable sign over said member, a tire-engaging member, and means connecting said tire member to said face member, said connecting means engaging the tire member along a periphery which is smaller than and off-set downwardly within the periphery of the face member.

6. An advertising sign holder for use in connection with an annular support in the form of a spare tire or the like, comprising a face member arranged for support over the exposed face of a spare tire, means for holding a removable sign over said member, a web extending from the periphery of said face member inwardly along its rear face, and an annular tire-engaging member secured to said web along a periphery smaller than and olf-set downwardly within the periphery of said face member. Y

'7. An advertising sign holder for use in connection with an annular support in the form of a spare tire or the like, comprising a face member arranged for support over the exposed face of a spare tire, means for holding a removable sign over said member, a ring member of smaller diameter than and off-set downwardly within the periphery of the face member, an annular web connecting said ring member to the periphery of said face member, and an annular tire-engaging member secured to said ring member.

8. A spare tire cover comprising a face member arranged for support over the exposed face of a spare tire, an annular tire-engaging member having one edge folded over at intervals and its opposite edge unfolded and secured to a resilient member, and means connecting the folded edge to said face member.

9. A spare tire cover comprising a face member arranged for support over the exposed face of a spare tire, said face member havinga periphery approximating that of a large tire, and an annular tire-engaging member having on one side a securing edge whose periphery approximates that of a smaller tire and on its other side an edge which is gathered over a resilient member to form an opening which may be expanded from small tire size to large tire size, and means connecting the securing edge to the face member.

10. A spare tire cover comprising a face member arranged for support over the exposed face of a spare tire, said member having a periphery approximating that of a large tire, an annular tire-engaging member having a length approximating that of the periphery of the face member, and a resilient member of normally smaller length, said tire member having one edge gathered over said resilient member and its other edge folded over at suitable intervals, said folded edge having a periphery approximating that of a smaller tire and means connecting the folded edge to said face member.

l1. A spare tire cover comprising a face member arranged for support over the exposed face of a spare tire, said face member having a periphery approximating that of a large tire, a ring having a periphery approximating that of a smaller tire, means connecting said ring tosaid face member, and an annular tire-engaging member having a length approximating that of the periphery of said face member, said tire-engaging member being secured to said ring with the excess material folded over adjacent said ring.

12. An advertising sign holder for use in connection with an annular support in the form of a spare tire or the like, comprising a face member arranged for support over the exposed face of a spare tire, means for holding a removable sign over said member, an annular tire-engaging member, the periphery of said face member and the length of said tire-engaging member ap'- proximating the periphery of a large tire, and means for connecting said tire-engaging member to said face member, said connecting means engaging an edge of said tire-engaging member along a periphery approximating that of a smaller tire, the excess material of said tire-engaging member being folded at intervals along its secured edge.

13. An advertising sign holder for use in connection with an annular support in the form of a spare tire or the like, comprising a face member arranged for support over the exposed face of a spare tire, means for holding a removable sign over said member, an annular tire-engaging member, the periphery of said face member and the length of said tire-engaging member approximating the periphery of a large tire, a ring having a periphery approximating that of a smaller tire, a web connecting said ring to the periphery of said face member, and means for securing one edge of said annular tire-engaging member to said ring, the excess material of said tire-engaging member being folded at intervals along its secured edge.

14. An advertising sign holder for use in con nection with an annular support in the form of a spare tire or the like comprising a face member adapted to be positioned over the exposed face of a spare tire with its center offset upwardly from the center of said tire and a tire-engaging member concealed behind said face member for holding said face member in its offset position.

WM. E. WHALEY. 

